The development and validation of Australian indices of child development - Part II : validity support

The two outcome indices described in a companion paper (Sanson et al., Child Indicators Research, 2009) were developed using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). These indices, one for infants and the other for 4 year to 5 year old children, were designed to fill the need for parsimonious measures of children’s developmental status to be used in analyses by a broad range of data users and to guide government policy and interventions to support young children’s optimal development. This paper presents evidence from Wave 1data from LSAC to support the validity of these indices and their three domain scores of Physical, Social/Emotional, and Learning. Relationships between the indices and child, maternal, family, and neighborhood factors which are known to relate concurrently to child outcomes were examined. Meaningful associations were found with the selected variables, thereby demonstrating the usefulness of the outcome indices as tools for understanding children’s development in their family and socio-cultural contexts. It is concluded that the outcome indices are valuable tools for increasing understanding of influences on children’s development, and for guiding policy and practice to optimize children’s life chances.

The development and validation of Australian Indices of Child Development — Part I: conceptualisation and development

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is a major national study examining the lives of Australian children, using a cross-sequential cohort design and data from parents, children, and teachers for 5,107 infants (3–19 months) and 4,983 children (4–5 years). Its data are publicly accessible and are used by researchers from many disciplinary backgrounds. It contains multiple measures of children’s developmental outcomes as well as a broad range of information on the contexts of their lives. This paper reports on the development of summary outcome indices of child development using the LSAC data. The indices were developed to fill the need for indicators suitable for use by diverse data users in order to guide government policy and interventions which support young children’s optimal development. The concepts underpinning the indices and the methods of their development are presented. Two outcome indices (infant and child) were developed, each consisting of three domains—health and physical development, social and emotional functioning, and learning competency. A total of 16 measures are used to make up these three domains in the Outcome Index for the Child Cohort and six measures for the Infant Cohort. These measures are described and evidence supporting the structure of the domains and their underlying latent constructs is provided for both cohorts. The factorial structure of the Outcome Index is adequate for both cohorts, but was stronger for the child than infant cohort. It is concluded that the LSAC Outcome Index is a parsimonious measure representing the major components of development which is suitable for non-specialist data users. A companion paper (Sanson et al. 2010) presents evidence of the validity of the Index.

Humanitarianism or self-serving hypocrisy? : the provision of aid to South Africa under the Hawke-Keating and Howard governments

General perceptions of foreign aid commonly engender images of humanitarianism and altruism, whereby the humanitarian needs of the recipient of development assistance are of the utmost priority of the aid donor. However, the Australian governments led by Hawke, Keating and Howard often gave humanitarianism a low emphasis, frequently placing Australia’s own foreign policy and economic concerns at the forefront of aid allocation – often unashamedly. This self-interest met through aid meant that most was provided to Australia’s regional neighbourhood, neglecting some of the poorest, most struggling states, including South Africa. Other issues and events, including the Cold War, apartheid, terrorism and HIV/AIDS also affected Australia’s aid policy; mostly, they were used as excuses to limit aid to states like South Africa.

Managing medical advice seeking in calls to Child Health Line

Child Health Line is a 24-hour Australian helpline that offers information and support for parents and families on child development and parenting. The helpline guidelines suggest that nurses should not offer medical advice, however they regularly receive calls seeking such advice. This paper examines how the service guidelines are talked into being through the nurses’ management of caller’s requests for medical advice and information, and shows how nurses orient to the boundaries of their professional role and institutionally regulated authority. Three ways in which the child health nurses manage medical advice and information seeking are discussed: using membership as a nurse to establish boundaries of expertise, privileging parental authority regarding decision making about seeking treatment for their child, and respecifying a ‘medical’ problem as a child development issue. The paper contributes to research on medical authority, and nurse authority in particular, by demonstrating the impact of institutional roles and guidelines on displays of knowledge and expertise. More generally, it contributes to an understanding of the interactional enactment and consequences of service guidelines for telehealth practice, with implications for training, policy and service delivery.

On the tying of aid to tariff reform

This paper considers the welfare effects of foreign aid that is tied to changes in the recipient's tariff. By constructing a three-country model with tariffs, and by allowing for changes both in the amount of aid and in the tariff rates, we are able to consider the welfare implications of two different rules of aid conditionality: (i) a rule which leaves the donor's welfare unchanged, and (ii) a rule which leaves the recipient government's total revenue unchanged. It is shown that the tying of aid to a tariff reform can, inter alia, be used to ensure Pareto improvement.

Prioritization of candidate cancer genes-an aid to oncogenomic studies

The development of techniques for oncogenomic analyses such as array comparative genomic hybridization, messenger RNA expression arrays and mutational screens have come to the fore in modern cancer research. Studies utilizing these techniques are able to highlight panels of genes that are altered in cancer. However, these candidate cancer genes must then be scrutinized to reveal whether they contribute to oncogenesis or are coincidental and non-causative. We present a computational method for the prioritization of candidate (i) proto-oncogenes and (ii) tumour suppressor genes from oncogenomic experiments. We constructed computational classifiers using different combinations of sequence and functional data including sequence conservation, protein domains and interactions, and regulatory data. We found that these classifiers are able to distinguish between known cancer genes and other human genes. Furthermore, the classifiers also discriminate candidate cancer genes from a recent mutational screen from other human genes. We provide a web-based facility through which cancer biologists may access our results and we propose computational cancer gene classification as a useful method of prioritizing candidate cancer genes identified in oncogenomic studies.

An investigation into regional differences in educational performance in the National Child Development Study

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is used to investigate factors which affect children's educational performance over time. Multilevel modelling techniques are used on a subset of the NCDS to investigate variation in educational performance in 11 regions in the UK, and in local education authorities within these regions. Social characteristics of the NCDS members are also analysed. Differences between regions and education authorities are found to be negligible, the main source of variation in achievement being due to differences in social background.

Home-based child development interventions for preschool children from socially disadvantaged families

BACKGROUND
Social disadvantage can have a significant impact on early child development, health and wellbeing. What happens during this critical period is important for all aspects of development. Caregiving competence and the quality of the environment play an important role in supporting development in young children and parents have an important role to play in optimising child development and mitigating the negative effects of social disadvantage. Home-based child development programmes aim to optimise children's developmental outcomes through educating, training and supporting parents in their own home to provide a more nurturing and stimulating environment for their child.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effects of home-based programmes aimed specifically at improving developmental outcomes for preschool children from socially disadvantaged families.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the following databases between 7 October and 12 October 2010: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2010, Issue 4), MEDLINE (1950 to week 4, September 2010), EMBASE (1980 to Week 39, 2010), CINAHL (1937 to current), PsycINFO (1887 to current), ERIC (1966 to current), ASSIA (1987 to current), Sociological Abstracts (1952 to current), Social Science Citation Index (1970 to current). We also searched reference lists of articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials comparing home-based preschool child development interventions with a 'standard care' control. Participants were parents with children up to the age of school entry who were socially disadvantaged in respect of poverty, lone parenthood or ethnic minority status.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors independently selected studies, assessed the trials' risk of bias and extracted data.

RESULTS
We included seven studies, which involved 723 participants. We assessed four of the seven studies as being at high risk of bias and three had an unclear risk of bias; the quality of the evidence was difficult to assess as there was often insufficient detail reported to enable any conclusions to be drawn about the methodological rigour of the studies. Four trials involving 285 participants measured cognitive development and we synthesised these data in a meta-analysis. Compared to the control group, there was no statistically significant impact of the intervention on cognitive development (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.30; 95% confidence interval -0.18 to 0.78). Only three studies reported socioemotional outcomes and there was insufficient data to combine into a meta-analysis. No study reported on adverse effects.

AUTHORS’ CONCLUSIONS
This review does not provide evidence of the effectiveness of home-based interventions that are specifically targeted at improving developmental outcomes for preschool children from socially disadvantaged families. Future studies should endeavour to better document and report their methodological processes.

A Social–Ecological, Process-Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development

Youth's risk for adjustment problems amid political violence is well documented, but outcomes vary widely, with many children functioning well. Accordingly, researchers are seeking to identify the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to children's adjustment, with an interest in understanding effects on children in terms of changes in the social contexts in which they live and the psychological processes engaged by these social ecologies. In this article, we look at the importance of studying many levels of the social ecology and of differentiating the effects of exposure to contexts of political versus nonpolitical violence, and we address theories about explanatory processes. We review research pertinent to these themes, including a six-wave longitudinal study on political violence and children in Northern Ireland.

Civil Society Aid to Post-Communist Countries

A major debate within foreign aid literature is whether civil society can be ‘purchased’ through outside assistance.We test this proposition by exploring the influence of aid provided by the United States Agency for International
Development on post-communist civil rights environments. A review of research critical of international assistance highlights the risk of unsustainability, polarization and dependence among recipient civic organizations.We argue that
a more effective stimulant is socio-economic growth, which stimulates committed constituencies, higher citizen expectations and pressure on the state to protect civil freedoms. Using cross-sectional, time-series data from 27
post-communist countries, we find no evidence that aid independently promotes stronger civil rights environments but that economic growth produces substantial improvements. Further, any aid effectiveness appears to be conditional on economic strength.We conclude that developmental organizations should reassess how and where civil society aid is targeted.

Towards a Critical Ecology of Child Development: Aligning the Theories of Bronfenbrenner and Bourdieu

Bronfenbrenner’s model of bio-ecological development has been utilized widely within the social sciences, in the field of human development, and in social work. Yet, while championing the rights of marginalised families and communities, Bronfenbrenner had under-theorized the role of power, agency and structure in shaping the ‘person-context’ interrelationship, life opportunities and social well-being. To respond to this deficit, this paper firstly outlines Bronfenbrenner’s ‘person, process, context, time’ model. Secondly, it then seeks to loosely align aspects of Bronfenbrenner’s model with Bourdieu’s analytical categories of habitus, field and capital. It is argued that these latter categories enable social workers to develop a critical ecology of child development, taking account of power and the interplay between agency and structure. The implications of the alignment for child and family social work are considered in the final section.

Mothers, Fathers, Families and Child Development

Summary This chapter reviews the main tenets of attachment theory—one of the most popular and traditional approaches to conceptualising the relationship between caregivers and child development—in the light of recent research evidence. It highlights the limitations of attachment theory in achieving a holistic understanding of child development in current societal structures and considers the advantages of taking an ecological approach to the development of practice and policy. An ecological perspective that is child-centred contributes to a holistic understanding of how families, in all their variety of forms, influence child development and support child-centred practice and policy. The quality of the family environment is a key factor for the healthy adjustment, development and wellbeing of children.

Conversations around homework: links to parental mental health, family characteristics and child psychological functioning

Parents are increasingly expected to supplement their children's school-based learning by providing support for children's homework. However, parents' capacities to provide such support may vary and may be limited by the experience of depression. This may have implications for child development. In the course of a prospective, longitudinal study of children of postnatally depressed and healthy mothers, we observed mothers (N = 88) and fathers (N = 78) at home during maths homework interactions with their 8-year-old children. The quality of parental communication was rated and analysed in relation to child functioning. The quality of communication of each of the parents was related to their mental state, social class and IQ. While postnatal depression was not directly related to child development, there was some evidence of the influence of maternal depression occurring in the child's school years. Different aspects of parental communication with the child showed specific associations with different child outcomes, over and above the influence of family characteristics. In particular, child school attainment and IQ were associated with parental strategies to encourage representational thinking and mastery motivation, whereas child behavioural adjustment at school and self-esteem were linked to the degree of parental emotional support and low levels of coercion. Notably, the influence of maternal homework support was more strongly related to child outcome than was paternal support, a pattern reflected in mothers' greater involvement in children's schools and school-related activities. Some parents may need guidance in how to support their children's homework if it is to be of benefit to child functioning.

A prospective longitudinal study of the impact of early postnatal vs. chronic maternal depressive symptoms on child development

Background Few studies of the effects of postnatal depression on child development have considered the chronicity of depressive symptoms. We investigated whether early postnatal depressive symptoms (PNDS) predicted child developmental outcome independently of later maternal depressive symptoms. Methods In a prospective, longitudinal study, mothers and children were followed-up from birth to 2 years; repeated measures of PNDS were made using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); child development was assessed using the Bayley Scales II. Multilevel modelling techniques were used to examine the association between 6 week PNDS, and child development, taking subsequent depressive symptoms into account. Results Children of mothers with 6 week PNDS were significantly more likely than children of non-symptomatic mothers to have poor cognitive outcome; however, this association was reduced to trend level when adjusted for later maternal depressive symptoms. Conclusion Effects of early PNDS on infant development may be partly explained by subsequent depressive symptoms.

Socially anxious mothers’ narratives to their children, and their relation to child representations and adjustment

Anxious mothers’ parenting, particularly transfer of threat information, has been considered important in their children’s risk for social anxiety disorder (SAnxD), and maternal narratives concerning potential social threat could elucidate this contribution. Maternal narratives to their pre-school 4-5 year-old children, via a picture book about starting school, were assessed in socially anxious (N=73), and non-anxious (N=63) mothers. Child representations of school were assessed via Doll Play (DP). After one school term, mothers (CBCL) and teachers (TRF) reported on child internalizing problems, and child SAnxD was assessed via maternal interview. Relations between these variables, infant behavioral inhibition, and attachment, were examined. Socially anxious mothers showed more negative (higher threat attribution), and less supportive (lower encouragement) narratives, than controls, and their children’s DP representations, SAnxD and CBCL scores were more adverse. High narrative threat predicted child SAnxD; lower encouragement predicted negative child CBCL scores and, particularly for behaviorally inhibited children, TRF scores and DP representations. In securely attached children, CBCL scores and risk for SAnxD were affected by maternal anxiety and threat attributions, respectively. Low encouragement mediated the effects of maternal anxiety on child DP representations, and CBCL scores. Maternal narratives are affected by social anxiety, and contribute to adverse child outcome.